Following my posts (here and here) about elections to the International Court of Justice of judges who had previously been on another international tribunal, I have another question for readers. Giorgio Gaja who was elected to the ICJ last month (see here) is currently an ad hoc judge in the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening) case. He had also been ad hoc judge in three previous ICJ cases. The question is:

Which judges of the ICJ had served as ad hoc judges at the ICJ prior to their election to the ICJ?

Note that I am asking for ICJ judges who were appointed ad hoc judges before they became full time judges on the ICJ. I am excluding those ad hoc judges who were appointed as such after they had been ICJ judges. There are many in the latter category. Gilbert Guillaume, former ICJ president is currently an ad hoc judges in three cases now before the Court. Judge Sir Robert Jennings was ad hoc Judge in the Lockerbie case after leaving the court. Judges Keba Mbaye, Ajibola, Sette-Camara, Ruda and others were also ad hoc judges after leaving the ICJ.

4 Responses

Of the current bench, Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor (Mexico) was an ad hoc judge in the Avena case (Mexico v. USA) and returned a few years later as a permanent judge. Nobody else comes to mind immediately. However, many ICJ members have previously appeared before the Court as counsel.

I have three names:
Judge Cancado Trindade was an ad hoc judge in the dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica regarding navigational and related rights.
Roberto Ago in the Arbitral Award Made by the King of Spain on 23 December 1906, dispute between Honduras and Nicaragua.
and Federico de Castro in the Barcelona Traction case.

About the Author(s)

Dapo Akande

Dapo Akande is one of the editors of EJIL:Talk!. He is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and Yamani Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford. He is Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, and also of the Oxford Martin Programme on Human Rights for Future Generations. Dapo is a member of the Editorial Boards of the European Journal of International Law and the American Journal of International Law and on the advisory board of several other journals. He is a Counsellor of the American Society of International Law, a Trustee of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a member of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability. Read Full